Cardinal Fernando Chomali lamented the unprecedented decision of three large commercial chains in Chile to open on Good Friday, making it difficult to participate in religious celebrations.
Good Friday, sacred day for Catholics, commemorates the death of Jesus Christ and is a central part of Holy Week. In many countries, including Chile, it is a holiday.
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This Thursday, March 21, the Archbishop of Santiago and Cardenal Primado de Chile met with representatives of the unions of Falabella, Ripley and Paris, three large chains of stores, which said they regret the unprecedented workday scheduled for Friday, April 18.
“The measure, unprecedented, would prevent numerous workers from participating in Holy Week celebrations and having a traditionally holiday,” said the purple in a communication. “Moreover, this situation will force thousands of families to live the various trades and rituals of Good Friday separately, fragmenting family life.”
Cardinal Chomali described this measure as “unfortunate”, considering that “faith constitutes a fundamental dimension of the human being, which helps him mean its existence, to his work already personal and family projects.”
“If the State of Chile declares a holiday on Good Friday it is because it recognizes in these celebrations a good for Chileans, while strengthening the Christian values that have nurtured and encouraged our culture and unite us around them,” he said.
In that sense, he argued that “the opening of these stores on Good Friday deeply hurts our soul, because it threatens the religiosity of a people and its traditions, violates the history and values that identify us as a nation.”
This intangible heritage, said the archbishop, “not only deserves respect, but must be taken care of, because the economic benefit of a day will be at the expense of a significant loss of social cohesion, of shared values that are a source of unity and fraternity.”
Likewise, Cardinal Chomali recalled that “the prosperity of a society is not measured only in economic terms, but also in its spiritual, family and social wealth.”
Highlighting the role of companies in society, the cardinal emphasized his “unavoidable responsibility” to “preserve and strengthen the social value they generate, and not to waste it by imposing a working day in a day of deep significance for numerous citizens.”
In that context, he recalled that “the work is at the service of the human being, the family and society, and not vice versa. It is not a merchandise that is transated in the market, because it is carried out by a person whose nature integrates both the body and spiritual dimension.”
Therefore, in the name of “the vast majority of the country”, Cardinal Chomali urged the companies involved to “reconsider this decision and keep their doors closed that day, thus allowing thousands of families to live a blessed Holy Week.”
“We recognize and value deeply the importance of work and the contribution of the entrepreneurs who generate it, but we cannot forget that faith is constitutive of the people and families of Chile and also represents an essential engine that drives to work to dignity the livelihood of the home,” he concluded.
At the end of the meeting, union representatives DISTANCARON The support received: “Cardinal Fernando Chomali gave us strong support, obviously, to the rejection of the opening on Good Friday,” said Pamela Cerón.
“We, like all the workers, are against this opening, since we find that it is not sellable this day,” he said.
Along the same lines, Juan Antibil, president of the Paris-Cenco National Federation, said: “We do not believe that this day has to be sold or traded” or that “the economic interest of companies over people over the people should prevail.”
For his part, Marco Delgado Rojas, president of the Federation of Ripley Business Trade Unions, said: “We believe that it is important that Good Friday is a family day, recollection, discernment and personal reflection, and also of the Catholic and Christian community.”
Therefore, he concluded: “We call and insist on the companies Almacenes Paris, Falabella and Ripley not to open their stores on a Good Friday and respect the work of people and their rest.”
Julieta Villar
I am a journalist, a graduate in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non -governmental organizations. Since 2016 I dedicate myself to Catholic journalism, first in the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as a correspondent for ACI Press for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.